Bebe Rexha

Bebe Rexha
Bebe Rexha in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Bleta Rexha
Born	(1989-08-30) August 30, 1989 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	Staten Island, New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Pop EDM
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Instruments	Voice guitar piano
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Decaydance Island Def Jam Music Group Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Black Cards
Website	www.beberexha.com

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Bleta "Bebe" Rexha (born August 30, 1989; Albanian pronunciation: [blɛta bibi ɾɛd͡ʒa]) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for being featured on the singles "Take Me Home" by Cash Cash, "Hey Mama" by David Guetta and for singing "Me, Myself & I" in duet with G-Eazy. She started her career as the lead vocalist of the American band Black Cards created by Pete Wentz, and co-wrote the number-one US Billboard Hot 100 song "The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna.^[1]

Early life and education

Bleta Rexha was born on August 30, 1989, in Brooklyn, New York City, to ethnic Albanian parents, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s. Her father is from Debar and her mother is from Gostivar in the Republic of Macedonia.^[2] Her real name Bleta means Bumble Bee in Albanian, that's where her nickname Bebe comes from.^[3] Rexha began her approach to music at the age of 4, and continued to pursue her love for music through Tottenville High School on Staten Island, taking part in musicals such as Hello, Dolly!, Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof.^[4] She was inspired by musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Tori Amos, John Legend, and The Temptations.^[4] Rexha earned the "Best Teen Songwriter" at The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences's annual New York "Grammy Day" event,^[4] that allowed her the opportunity to meet many prominent music producers.

Career

Black Cards

Bebe Rexha with Pete Wentz in 2011.

In March 2010, Fall Out Boy frontman Pete Wentz formed an alternative electro band with Rexha, called Black Cards. Wentz decided to form the group during his break from music in 2009, when he decided to concentrate more of his time on raising his family. During this period, Wentz started being inspired by Jamaican music, and decided to contact producer Sam Hollander to discuss an idea to mash up ska, dance and reggae music with '80s British rock and pop to create an experimental sound.

Hollander was instrumental in introducing Rexha to Wentz, as Rexha would spend a lot of time in his studio writing and recording songs. Wentz decided to sign Rexha under his Decaydance label with Island Def Jam, and during on an interview on MTV, he announced that album was set to release for mid-2011. In the same year, the duo released their first single "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Fame" and many songs were leaked to YouTube, but the album was postponed to March 2012, according to reports from an interview that Wentz did with Spin magazine. On January 12, 2012, the band announced via Facebook that Rexha was no longer a member of the group.

Solo career

Rexha in 2010

In 2013, Rexha was signed to Warner Bros. Records by A&R Executives Jeff Fenster and Alex Wilhelm after a three label bidding war,^[5] following success as a professional songwriter, penning songs such as "Like a Champion" for Selena Gomez on the album Stars Dance, "Glowing" for South African-born Island Def Jam recording artist Nikki Williams, and the number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit "The Monster" for Eminem featuring Rihanna. "The Monster", was originally called "Monster Under My Bed". Rexha initially recorded the track as a potential song for her debut solo album, then she and her collaborators pitched Eminem's label a stripped-down version of the song that was later reworked to become "The Monster".^[1]

In the same year, Rexha was featured with the New Jersey-based EDM group Cash Cash on their single "Take Me Home", which peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[6] Cash Cash and Bebe also recorded an acoustic version of "Take Me Home" along with a video that was released on February 25, 2014 through Big Beat Records.^[7]

Rexha is working on her debut album, and has already entered the studio with producers such as David Guetta, Fraser T Smith and Frequency, among others. On March 21, 2014, Bebe released her first single from her debut EP, "I Can't Stop Drinking About You", via Warner Bros. Records.^[8] Rexha released "I'm Gonna Show You Crazy" on December 23, 2014 as the second single from her debut EP.^[9] Another song, "Gone", was released on the same day.^[10]

On April 21, it was announced Rexha would release a five track EP in May called I Don't Wanna Grow Up.^[11] The EP was released on May 12, 2015, through Warner Bros. Records.^[12]

On March 17 2015, Bebe Rexha was featured in David Guetta's single Hey Mama, for which she wrote the hook. The song featured her along with American rapper Nicki Minaj and Dutch music producer and DJ Afrojack.

On October 14, 2015 Bebe Rexha together with American rapper G-Eazy released the single Me, Myself & I. The song originally called "I Don't Need Anything"^[13] written by Bebe Rexha was intended to be used on her own debut album. Not totally convinced with the final result and looking for a collaboration, she played the demo on piano for the rapper G-Eazy , who liked the song and decided to collaborate on the track. They striped the song's verses putting rap on it and kept Rexha's chorus, post-chorus and bridge, and changed the title in "Me, myself and I". ^[14] The song has so far peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number 1 on Billboard Hot Rap Songs.

On February, 2015 Bebe Rexha announced during a facebook videochat, that the first single of her debut album called "No Broken Hearts" will be released in March 2016.^[15] The song, that will feature rapper Nicki Minaj is already registered in Ascap and is penned by Bebe Rexha, Nicki Minaj and the Grammy-nominated songwriting and music production trio The Invisible Men among others.^[16]

Discography

• I Don't Wanna Grow Up (2015)

Production and writing credits

Rexha has written and co-produced a number of artists, including:^[17]

Awards and nominations

References